


The Fox and the Phoenix

by Andrew_Quan



Category: Cradle Series - Will Wight
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cradle Series (Will Wright), Drama & Romance, Gen, Heist, Humor, Martial Arts, Martial Arts Fantasy, Multi, Prequel, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Soul Based Magic, Swords & Sorcery, Work In Progress, Wuxia, cultivation, progression Fiction, travel & exploration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29121684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andrew_Quan/pseuds/Andrew_Quan
Summary: A story set on the world of cradle set years before the events of the Lindon's and Yarin's story.Set on the Everwood Continent, the story follows events leading upto the 17th Uncrowned king Tournement.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	The Fox and the Phoenix

  
Himono Kai sprinted through the burning forest unconcerned, his ash born iron body protecting him from the flames, making them the least of his worries. He had set the fire as a distraction, so his little band of misfits could make their way to the Storm Rider sect’s school without being noticed. Problem was that either no one knew, or Tila _“forgot”_ to tell him there was a raiju guarding the forest around the compond. Kai would bet everything in his void key down to his lowest grade scale, it was the latter. Not to mention half of the sect was out trying to fight the fires, golds mostly, but bathe in enough embers and you might as well hop in the fire.

Sword bare, he cycled his madra, a potent mix of fire, wind, and sword aspects that he gently pushed into the weapon. The edge of the black blade began glowing, first red, then white and finally bursting into flames as the first of his two enforcer technique, the phoenix edge, snapped into place around the sword. 

He followed the Path of the Blazing Tempest, or would have if life wasn’t such an absurdist joke. As it stood, his path had no true name, though he had taken to calling it the path of the descending phoenix, for now anyway.

Overlord madra flared to his right and his sword whipped upward the blade unleashing a phoenix talon and sending a horizontal arch of crimson flames edged in deep emerald green and silver into the dense burning foliage, as a fork of blue-white lighting blasted through the undergrowth in his direction. The two striker techniques met and exploded, gouging chunks of earth from the ground, and forcing Kai to leap away as dust and debris filled his view. 

Immediately, he swept his spiritual perception outward and cursed as he dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding a lighting bolt that ripped out of the dust cloud and slammed into a nearby tree, blasting through the trunk. Rolling to his feet, Kai swept his blade out in front of him, sending another arch of flame in the direction the attacks had come. Another bolt slammed into the striker technique and split, arching to either side of Kai as the burning tree fell between the two combatants.

Fine cracks of molten red steel formed along the length of the single-edged weapon as it hummed. Kai barely had time to notice when the sacred beast leaped through the flames. He caught a dragon’s claw with the weight of a horse sized wolf behind it on his sword. Pale blue-white fur bristled as electricity danced all over the wolf-like sacred beast's body, their golden, rage filled eyes, fixed on his own hazel ones. 

Dropping to one knee, Kai let the blue and yellow scaled claw fall beside him as he rolled out of the way. His second enforcer technique, the vermillion cloak, sprang up around him, wreathing him in deep red flames before he sprinted away. 

Weaving between burning trees, Kai could hear them hot on his heels, relentless in their pursuit. He groaned mentally; he didn’t have time for this; he was already late and, whether he liked it or not, fighting the creature would be a real pain, literally. He was just barely an underlord, and he knew for certain this sacred beast was an overlord and burn him to ash if he wanted to fight the thing. He needed to get away.

 _‘Absurd’_ , he thought to himself, _‘why is my life so absu-’_

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and he whirled around, launching another phoenix talon. Two striker techniques exploded on contact. 

Kai let out a resigned groan as he readied his blade. _‘Nothing for it I guess. Pit, Fine.’_

His sword trailed flames as he shot forward, slashing at the sacred beast. The raiju launched itself over Kai, twisting in the air, and unleashing another bolt. Or it tried to. Kai spun in a blur of motion, and manipulating wind aura to create a solid surface, and kicked off it, closing the gap again, his blade rising to cut the creature’s head from their shoulders, interrupting the technique. 

Suddenly, the raiju wasn’t just bristling with storm aura; they WERE storm aura, and before his sword took the beast's head off, they shot out of his reach. 

Kai landed and let the phoenix edge fade. Using both enforcer techniques would strain his madra channels near to breaking and empty his core faster than he'd like as a bonus. He’d need the cloak to keep up.

The living lightning bolt in front of him took a step forward.

“You are, either the bravest person I’ve ever met…” 

It spoke in a melodic female voice that was smooth as silk. Kai blinked at that, surprised. He had realised that some part of him assumed she was a male.

“Or the mos-”

“I’m so sorry,” he interrupted. “I know you have something to say but, I’m really behind schedule, so if you just, skip to the important bits it would be greatly appreciated.” 

Golden yellow eyes opened wide before narrowing as a growl escaped her throat. “Do put up a good fight, boy.”

“Boy?! How old do you think I-”

The raiju flickered and suddenly she was on top of him, almost faster than he could react. Claws flashed, and it was all Kai could do to put his sword between himslef and the raiju. The blow landed and flung Kai back. Sliding to a stop, he sprung back, narrowly avoiding the next attack. With a quick step and a flourish, Kai whipped another two Phoenix Talons and rushed in behind them. 

The two striker techniques arched in toward the beast. She knocked the first away almost disdainfully, and the second she blasted apart with lightning. Kai flipped his sword into a backhand grip and slashed. He felt the blade bite into the raiju’s shoulder as he slipped passed, pivoting on the balls of his feet and reversing blade again, he streaked forward like a comet; the vermilion cloak trailing behind him. Storm aura surged around the raiju and Kai threw himself in the air, flipping over the attack that forked out of her. Steel flashed as Kai’s blade cut a neat line across the beast’s snout, and it howled in protest. He spun like a top as he landed, his sword sweeping in for another attack at her flank and the raiju blurred and caught his attack in her teeth, HER TEETH. 

“That can’t be good for you,” he said, startled by what just happened. “Wouldn’t mind letting that go, would you?” 

The raiju growled and bit down harder in response, shattering the blade. 

_'Pit!’_ Kai cursed, as he quick stepped away, just barely avoiding another swipe of the raiju’s claws. Arm outstretched, Kai forged a deep crimson feather with a green tip and a silver shaft and hurled it at the creature. The feather shot forward in a streak of crimson and the raiju slipped out of the path forger technique, thinking to avoid it. Kai grinned.

_‘Close enough.’_

He clenched his fist, and the feather erupted. A roiling sphere of fire, sword, and wind madra a little over twenty feet across blossomed into existence, engulfing the raiju completely. 

Kai fell back a few steps and readied another two phoenix feathers, letting them float just over his shoulders and slid his hand into a pocket. 

His technique dissipated and standing where the raiju should have been was a woman in white and red sacred artist robes, a neat cut across her nose.

 _‘Yup,’_ he thought to himself. _‘Of course she’d take on a hu-’_

A single, golden yellow eye fixed on him from behind wild flowing blue-white hair, and Kai almost broke and ran, a rabbit fleeing a wolf. Sheer force of will held him in place under that gaze, but outrage at that fear steeled his nerves. This rabbit would bite back.

She flickered and the two feathers lanced forward, exploding just as Kai’s world lurched sideways, as he slammed into the ground, her hand on his neck. She recoiled, surprised by the heat of his enforcer technique, and he slammed a foot into her stomach, pushing himself away. Rolling to his feet, he whipped what remained of his sword in two quick arcs, sending a pair of soul fire reinforced talons her way and began gathering the ambient aura around him, twisting it, building it, shaping. 

Storm madra flowing over her, she slipped between the attacks and flickered forward again, this time slamming him into a tree hard enough that his still forming ruler technique nearly broke. 

“ENOUGH!” she shouted, barely contained anger in her eyes. “You have nothing left, and if you want to live, you won’t bare fang again.”

She was almost right. His core all but tapped out, and his madra channels ached with the use of so many techniques in rapid succession. He wasn’t done though, not even close.

“My apologies, I didn’t catch your name earlier, how should I address you?” 

“I am Mikoto Susamu.” she answered, eyebrow raised. “You WILL release your ruler technique, immediately.”

He did.

“Well, Susamu, I’d love to go with you, but-” Kai grinned as he pulled a forged feather out of his pocket and held it between them. “I have a previous engagement.” 

Susamu’s eyes went wide and Kai winked just as he detonated the feather. 

Pain. Even though he braced himself, pushing the sword aura away, the pain of a thousand tiny cuts ripped trough him. If he screamed, the roar of the flames swallowed it. The blast ripped the tree apart and threw the two fighters apart. Not for the first time, Kai was grateful for his ash born body. He had infused that feather with soul fire and knew what would happen to someone without his near immunity to fire. He was just glad that his mounting ruler technique distracted from the feather as he forged it. 

He rose to his feet just before Susamu did, and both were covered in blood and a thousand shallow cuts, the effect of the sword aspect in his attack. They stood at either end of the blast, sixty feet apart. She turned to him, her hair and clothing seared, eye wide with rage. 

Kai laughed as storm aura filled the space between the two. Arcs of lighting danced across the ground as the air buzzed with the sharp pops and crackles of the building whirlpool of storm aura centered on Susamu. Four more feathers spun into existence and hung over his shoulders as he readied himself with less than a quarter of his madra and half a sword.

 _‘Of course,’_ he thought to himself. _‘another of life's little absurd jokes.’_

Storm madra surged over Susamu as she drew a long slender blade from her soul space, arcs of lightning sliding along her pale skin. She crouched, coiling like a viper, and flickered, shattering the ground where she once stood, her blade racing toward his throat. 

A mass of shadow, force, and dream madra so dense it leeched color from everything around it, appeared inches in front of Kai and enveloped Susamu before it sank slowly to the ground and took the rigid form of a cube. 

[You’re late.]

**Author's Note:**

> Style Notes
> 
> Some characters within the story communicate telepathically. I use square brackets to indicate telepathy. For example, [this would be what their telepathy looks like.]
> 
> I use the singular “they/them” for agender and non-binary characters, as well as characters whose gender is unclear or hasn’t been determined yet. For example, “Kai didn’t know who made those constructs, but even he could tell they had incredible skill.”
> 
> I use “they/them” for sentient creatures without a clear gender and “it” for creatures that aren’t sentient. For example, I use they/them pronouns for humanoid creatures of unclear gender and sacred beasts like dragons and raiju, but I use “it” for things like constructs and dread beasts.
> 
> Some characters are referred to by thier surname first in some places and not in others. This is due to cultural differences between locations. For example, on the Ashwind Continent, Kai, the main character would be addressed as Himono Kai. However, on the Everwood continent he’d go by Kai Himono.
> 
> For those of you who have read and/or are longtime fans of the cradle series, you can skip right ahead to the story, but if this is your first exposure to the cradle series...
> 
> Information Requested: The Sacred Arts and the advancement of the unascended. The magic system of Cradle.
> 
> [Information Found]
> 
> Beginning Report...
> 
> Vital Aura. In the world of Cradle, vital aura gathers around the elements it belongs to; for instance, earth aura gathers around stone, and water aura gathers around water. The more of an element that is present, the more aura gathers there. Slowly, and at different speed for different elements, the elements themselves, will start to gather the aura, and if left undisturbed for long enough, these veins of vital aura are refined into a higher state. Pools of water will turn into sacred pools, which are often used to refine elixirs, and Titan’s Bone, which comes from stone, is almost unbreakable.
> 
> Madra. Madra is the energy running through our bodies. It is used to power techniques, and “cycling” it and using it for techniques is what we call practicing the sacred arts.
> 
> Your body is built up with a madra core in your center, usually placed just beneath your navel, and madra channels, looping from your core through your body and back. This mimics blood veins, but for madra. There are three ways to replenish and expand your madra pool. One, you can cycle it. Two, you can draw in vital aura from around you. This does have to be aura that is either pure, or of the same type as in your core. Three, you can use elixirs and pills.
> 
> Cycling. As a default, a newborn baby will have pure madra. This madra is the only one that doesn’t have a corresponding vital aura. To get your core to another kind of madra, you have to cycle vital aura of the chosen element(s), which will slowly turn your madra into that kind, until your body at last produces that kind by itself.
> 
> There are multiple ways to cycle madra. One can cycle to take in and process aura, one can cycle to use a technique, one can cycle to restore lost madra, or one can cycle to refine and control the madra you already have. All of this will be done at different times throughout your life, as you use your madra. 
> 
> Techniques. There are four kinds of techniques that you can use. Often, a technique will be a combination of multiple technique styles. As you use a technique, it will get engraved into your soul over time, which make a technique stronger and more versatile. Striker techniques, blast your target with madra from a distance. Forger techniques, create stable, physical manifestations or objects of madra. Enforcer techniques empowers your body or something you are holding. Depending on madra type and technique, the benefits will vary. Finally, ruler techniques use madra to control vital aura to create an effect around you, for example control wind or trap your opponent within illusions.
> 
> Advancment. A level of advancement or rank, is a level of spiritual development that advances as the sacred artist improves their core and madra and fulfills the requirements of the next stage. Some ranks have special requirements or give special abilities. At each advancement stage, the quality of the madra is improved. These Ranks are;
> 
> Foundation Realm  
> Foundation.  
> Copper.  
> Iron.  
> Jade.
> 
> Gold Realm  
> Low Gold.  
> High Gold.  
> True Gold.
> 
> Lord Realm  
> Underlord/lady.  
> Overlord/lady.  
> Archlord/lady.  
> Sage or Herold. 
> 
> Beyond Lord Realm  
> Monarch.
> 
> Suggested topic: the Spiritual Origin test of Sacred Valley.
> 
> Denied, report complete.


End file.
